Peter Chang, Region Head – South Asia & Country Manager for ASUS India.
“The budget gave the smartphone industry a lot to look forward to in the coming year. Government’s thrust on digitization through its push on Aadhaar-enabled payments will provide impetus to the demand of mobile phones in the country. The BHIM app has already been adopted by 125 lakh people and government’s plans to introduce two new schemes to promote its use will make the concept of a cashless society and digital currency, a reality. In addition to this, proposed extension of the OFC network to 1,50,000 gram panchayats for high speed broadband connectivity and rollout of 4G in the country will create a more digitally inclusive society. The budget was also conducive to promoting domestic manufacturing of electronics. With a provision of INR 745 crores in 2017-18 in incentive schemes like M-SIPS and EDF, manufacturing of smartphones in India should see a boost. We now look forward to the successful rollout of GST this year. Besides achieving standardization of taxation levels and making interstate movement of goods easier, it should also help sellers achieve similar selling prices. This coupled with all the other initiatives will enable us to bring more people under the digital umbrella.”
